Muesli makes my day!

Ever get that pang of regret when you realize that there’s been this wonderful thing in existence and you have only just found out about it?

I had that experience with muesli last week. Why did no one tell me that this sloppy muesli was way better than the dry stuff? I’ve never been a big lover of the “horse food” that my husband calls breakfast, but when served after a night of soaking up a soupy juice-yogurt mix - yum!

There are lots of commercial varieties of muesli available, but they’re usually laden with sugar or cost a small fortune for a tiny box. Muesli and experimentation are two peas in a pod, though, so this will be my new project for January. A search of the internet has yielded as many versions as there are breakfast cereals. I’m looking to make something that is modeled closely after the original whole-grain masterpiece invented by Maximilian Bircher-Benner - a combination of overnight-soaked grains, nuts, dried fruit and yogurt.

These will be my building blocks. It makes two servings, so Nick can weigh in on the results.

1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup juice
6 Tbsp rolled grains (oats, rye, barley, etc.)
2 Tbsp dried fruit
1 Tbsp nuts
1 Tbsp wheat germ
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
pinch of spices (optional)
1/8 tsp salt

I’ll simply combine everything the night before and eat it with my morning tea. If I’m feeling really daring, I’ll grate some apple and pear over the cereal too! Stay tuned for the results of my experiment.

Joyeux Noël blanc

You can’t see it in the picture, but it’s snowing really hard right now. The snow on the railing is new since yesterday. So, for the first time since 1990 (those here will remember the infamous arctic outbreak), it is my pleasure to wish you a merry white Christmas! 

I wonder how this would work in hilly Seattle

Sounds like a pretty good gig for out of work messengers and other folks looking to pick up some extra money while getting a good workout:

It’s still here!

It’s been a LONG time since we had snow on the ground for a week straight. We’re sure having fun with it though! Here are a few more pictures:

Even hats are picking up windblown snow these days

Meet Larry, our neighbors new kitten. He doesn’t seem to mind the snow at all, but he’s only 4 months old. That might change.

Larry is very friendly.

This shoveling job doesn’t look like much, but it represents 40 minutes of work.

Happy (more) snow day

The softest thing on earth
overtakes the hardest thing on earth.
The non-existent overtakes even that
which has no interstices.
From this one recognizes the value of non-action.

-- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, verse 43